Privacy Policy

At Istanbul Insider Guide, we take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website istanbulinsider.com.

This policy applies to all visitors, users, and others who access our services. We are committed to protecting your personal data and being transparent about how we handle it.

Last Updated: 2026

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

• ✉
  Email: info@istanbulinsider.com
• 🌐
  Website: istanbulinsider.com

We comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable data protection laws. If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have specific rights regarding your personal data.

Your GDPR Rights

• 1.
  Right to Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• 2.
  Right to Rectification: You can request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• 3.
  Right to Erasure: You can request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal obligations).
• 4.
  Right to Restrict Processing: You can request we limit how we use your data.
• 5.
  Right to Data Portability: You can request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• 6.
  Right to Object: You can object to certain processing activities.

To exercise these rights, contact us at info@istanbulinsider.com.

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website. This service collects information about:

• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Browser type and operating system
• Referring websites
• General geographic location (country/city level)
• Device type (mobile, tablet, desktop)

Google Analytics uses cookies to collect this information. Your IP address is anonymized before being stored. The data is processed by Google LLC and may be transferred to servers outside the EEA.

You can opt-out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

We use Cusdis as our comment system on blog posts. When you leave a comment:

• Name and Email: Required to post a comment. Your email is never displayed publicly.
• Website URL: Optional. If provided, your name will link to this URL.
• Comment Content: Publicly visible on the blog post.

How Your Comment Data is Used

• ✓
  Displayed on the blog post for other visitors to see
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  Used to detect and prevent spam comments
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  Stored securely by Cusdis (privacy-focused service hosted in EU)

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit our website. We use the following types:

Managing Cookies

You can control and manage cookies through your browser settings:

• •
  Block all cookies: Note this may affect website functionality
• •
  Delete existing cookies: Clear your browser data
• •
  Set browser preferences: Configure cookie settings per website

Visit your browser's help documentation for specific instructions.

We may use third-party services that have access to your data. These include:

These third parties have their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review them.

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy:

• 📊
  Analytics Data: Retained for 26 months (Google Analytics default) then automatically deleted
• 💬
  Comments: Retained indefinitely unless you request deletion, or if they violate our comment policy
• 🍪
  Cookies: Duration varies by cookie type (see Cookie Policy section above)

When you request deletion of your data, we will delete it within 30 days, unless we are required to retain it for legal purposes.

Our website is not intended for children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us immediately at info@istanbulinsider.com.

If we discover we have collected personal data from a child under 16 without verification, we will take steps to delete that information.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will:

• Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy
• Notify users of significant changes via a site notice
• Post the new policy on this page

Under the GDPR, we must have a legal basis for processing personal data. Our legal bases are:

Your personal data may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence. This includes:

• United States: Google Analytics data is processed by Google LLC in the US
• EU/EEA: Cusdis is hosted in the European Union
• Global: Vercel's CDN may serve content from various global locations

When we transfer data outside the EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including:

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  Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) where required
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  EU-US Data Privacy Framework participation where applicable
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  Compliance with GDPR Chapter V requirements